Obama Says Darrell Issa Is ‘the Definition of Chutzpah’

AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta26 Oct 2016

President Barack Obama said Rep. Darrel Issa (R-CA) “is the definition of chutzpah” for using his photo in a political mailer and praising him after years of being a staunch critic of his administration and demanding transparency in Washington, D.C.

“Chutzpah” is a Yiddish term that means “audacity.”

“That is shameless,” Obama said during a fundraiser on Sunday night, where he was raising money for Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party at the home of donor Christine Forester in La Jolla.

According to Politico, Obama said: “Issa’s primary contribution to the United States Congress has been to obstruct and to waste taxpayer dollars on trumped-up investigations that have led nowhere. And this is now a guy who, because poll numbers are bad, has sent out brochures with my picture on them touting his cooperation on issues with me.”

The mailer shows Obama sitting at his desk, signing something. To the left of his picture is Issa’s, and on top of it a quote from the eight-term congressman, stating, “I am very pleased that President Obama has signed into law the Survivors’ Bill of Rights — legislation I cosponsored to protect the victims of sexual assault.”

Issa is facing an unexpected challenge this year from Democratic candidate and former Marine colonel Doug Applegate, who has received Obama’s endorsement.

At one point during his talk, Obama reportedly called out to Applegate, saying, “I think somebody called Darrell Issa — was this you, Doug? — that Darrell Issa was Trump before Trump.”

In 2010, Issa had called Obama “one of the most corrupt presidents in modern times.”

On Monday, Issa’s campaign sent out a mailer in response to the Democratic president’s “tirade” against him. “Obama called me ‘shameless’ and ‘the definition of chutzpah’ for being proud of legislation that I co-sponsored to protect victims of sexual assault.” He added, “… the entire Democrat establishment is coming together to defeat me” and that “Obama knows that I will be a watchdog for the American people throughout the next administration.”

The ad continues: “After all, he knows firsthand that there is no more effective fighter against the damaging policies that he and Hillary Clinton are constantly trying to force upon Americans.”